Thank You for Nothing
by morethanamillion
Summary: It's after the war, and the Seven of Prophecy have come back to a heroes welcome. Everyone except Leo. Feeling even more the seventh wheel, Leo decides that it's high time he left. So Leo does what he does best and runs. After HOH.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Leo looked around the camp, sighing to himself. The party was one of the best the camp had ever thrown. A big banner over the amphitheater announced a "Welcome Home Demigods!" The demigods referred to, of course, were the seven of prophecy. They had defeated Gaea, rescued Percy and Annabeth, and closed the doors. And Leo still felt miserable. He had been pondering this for a while. It was a relief not to have the threat of the doors and Gaea hanging over their backs, and Leo was over the moon that Percy and Annabeth were out of Tartarus. So, why was it that he felt so miserable?

"_Maybe because you're still the seventh wheel." _A nasty voice whispered in his head.

"Shut up," Leo growled at it.

But the voice kept at it. _"Look at you. A 'hero'. I thought heroes were supposed to be looked up to and admired. I thought heroes had friends."_

"I have friends!" Leo protested, but the voice wasn't done.

"_Your so called 'friends' haven't even talked to you since you've gotten back. Heck, this is supposed to be your party too, and you've been stuck like a loner in the corner the entire time! You're pathetic. You're not good at anything except running away like a scaredy cat. I bet you're 'friends' can't wait for you to run, so they're rid of you."_

This time Leo didn't say anything. It just struck to close to home.

"_Don't like that do you? Well, just go ask them. You'll see how true it is."_

"Fine," Leo growled, "I will."

Marching at of the corner towards the rest of the party, Leo looked around for a familiar face. It was not long before he saw Jason and Piper sitting on a bench together. Jason had his arm around her waist, and they seemed to be whispering together.

"Hey guys," Leo nervously approached them. "Just thought I'd say hi and see how you were doing."

"Umm… okay I guess." Jason was distracted by Piper's eyes, which were in the midst of changing in a kaleidoscope show, from brown to blue to green."

"If you don't mind, I'll just sit with you guys for a while," Leo said.

Piper looked up. She had so been looking forward to some alone time with Jason.

"Well we're actually kind of busy right now," she said, although somewhat sharper than she had intended.

"Yeah," Jason added, "Why don't you find someone else to hang out with." He had said it so Leo wouldn't have to bear witness to their make-out session, and still not be alone, but he had to admit that it would be nice if Leo could just kind of disappear right now, so he'd have some time to make a move with Piper.

"Oh," said Leo, "I understand." He got off the bench quickly and hurried away. Piper and Jason both decided that they'd hunt him down later to apologize, but right now the time was theirs.

In the meantime, Leo had caught sight of Frank and Hazel. He saw them look in his direction when it appeared he wasn't looking, so he walked over to see if he had a sign taped to his back or something. When he did get there, both Hazel and Frank didn't see him, and just kept on talking. With a look back at where Leo had been standing, Hazel resumed her conversation.

"I mean, he's just so annoying. And I mean, it's not like he's even funny or cute or anything. And no one likes him, he's always just hanging around like a third wheel," Hazel said.

"I know," Frank agreed. "He doesn't really know how to socialize. He's kind of a freak."

Leo, having heard enough, hurried away, even as Hazel continued.

"Yeah, I guess no one really likes Octavian."

Leo had just found Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth was leaned against a tree, with Percy kissing her.

"Oh, ummm… this is ackward," Leo stated. Annabeth and Percy sprang apart like guilty teenagers.

"Leo! What are you doing here!" Annabeth exclaimed, more than embarrassed.

"Yeah Leo, I thought you were enjoying the party," Percy said, also turning bright red.

"Umm… Leo maybe you'd like more punch," Annabeth said in an attempt to get him to leave.

Leo not realizing the ploy said, "That's okay, I just got some."

"Then you have to go to the bathroom," Annabeth said.

"Umm… no I don't."

"Then maybe you should check up on Festus."

"I already did." Leo wasn't quite getting the hint, and thought Annabeth was just trying to be helpful. Annabeth herself was now fuming.

"Leo! Would it kill you to just leave?!" Annabeth was beyond exasperated.

"Umm… yeah Leo," Percy said with a look at Annabeth, "I think it'd be better if you just left."

Once Leo was gone, Percy turned to Annabeth. "I didn't mean to be that hard on him," she shrugged.

"That's okay, babe," Percy said. "We'll apologize later."

None of them realized though, that there would be no later. Leo was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Leo muttered as he dug through his things, occasionally stuffing something into his magic toolbelt.

_Stupid what? You? _The nasty voice was back again, and with it, more irritation on Leo's part.

"Trusting them. I thought that this time was different. I thought that here, I'd actually make some friends, and be normal. I thought there was no more running, no more hiding. That I could actually be myself with them. That they would be there for me." Leo's voice cracked with pent up emotion.

_Why would they want to be friends with you? You're an anti-social freak who can light himself up like a firecracker at any moment. And you wonder why they avoid you sometimes? You can't even tell good jokes._

Leo had to admit, that this time the voice in his head had crossed the line. "Wait," he thought to himself, "the voice in my HEAD has crossed a line? Oh my gosh, Leo you're going insane. That or your subconscious is seriously messed up. So, both I guess."

_Thank you Captain Obvious. Can we go now? _

"Don't get your knickers in a knot," Leo muttered, "I'm almost ready." Grabbing Festus from off his dresser, along with a pad of paper, Leo quickly jotted down a quick note, then attached it to Festus, which he had set on the bed. "So long buddy," he said. "I'll miss you."

Festus creaked sadly, as if knowing there was nothing he could do to make Leo stay.

Opening the door, Leo made a dash into the shadows of the next cabin. Now came the tricky part- getting to Thalia's tree without being noticed. He supposed he could go through the forest, but it was dangerous and a lot slower. He needed to be gone fast. Quickly making a plan, he figured he could make a dash for the next cabin until he reached the edge, after which he could circle around the party until he was at the big house, whereupon he would quickly make his way to Thalia's tree, and then out the boundary. After that, he figured he'd just kind of set out to the last place the other's would look for him.

_What makes you think they'll want to look for you? They won't have time anyways. They'll be too busy celebrating your departure._

"Well," Leo thought, "it didn't hurt to dream."

Trying to keep in the shadows as much as possible, Leo reached the edge of the cabins. Quickly surveying the area, he checked for people. Seeing that they were all heading towards the amphitheater, where Chiron would be giving his 'Welcome Home', Leo took the opportunity and dashed headlong towards the big house. That they were already gathering made him nervous- he had less time than he thought.

Running as hard as he could, he reached the big house in no time. Turning around, he glanced around to see if anyone had seen him. Nothing but the blackness of the night.

Taking one last look at his home- no not his home, his former home- he turned and plunged out the boundary into the world.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nico DiAngelo watched Leo's receding back, as he headed towards the big house. As much as he wondered where Leo was going and why, he figured Leo had a good reason. The kid had been through a lot. He'd seen almost as much as Nico had. Almost. Nico shuddered- maybe Leo had the right idea. All of a sudden, Hazel was next to him.

"Nico, come on," she said, tugging at his arm, "you have to be there for Chiron's big speech."

"I'm coming, I'm coming. I wouldn't miss it for the world." The look on his face said that he could think of a million things he'd rather be doing. He was starting to think Leo was wiser than he appeared. Pulled along by Hazel, Nico just managed to sit down next to Frank before Chiron pounded on the floor with his hoof to get everyone's attention.

"As you know," he started, "Gaea has started to rise. However; thanks to all of you," he gestured towards all the Romans and Greeks, "she has been defeated. You have learned to work together, and look at what you have accomplished." Once a teacher, always a teacher. "I would now like to thank a couple of people for their service in the war. Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Nico DiAngelo, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, and Leo Valdez, would you please come to the stage." As the demigods hurried to take their places on the stage, Chiron continued, "Without you, and your determination and persistence, the war would have been lost. For this, we would like to thank you."

A flash and all of a sudden the 12 main gods and goddesses had appeared next to Chiron on the stage. Zeus stepped forward. "We would like to…ahem…ummmm…"

"We would like to thank you for all you have done," Athena finished, beaming at her daughter. In honor of that, we would like to present you with these gifts.

The parents of the demigods stepped forward with the gifts in hand, and one by one the demigods on stage accepted them. Then with a loud pop! the last Olympian appeared- Hephaestus. "Umm…sorry I'm late…got a little caught up in the workshop. Anyways, for you Leo Valdez we present… does anyone know where Leo is?" It was only when Leo didn't step forward that everyone realized he wasn't present.

"I saw him leave a while back," Nico volunteered.

"Where? Bunker Nine?"

"He probably just got a little bored with the party and the crowd and went to hang out with Festus," Percy said.

Jason wasn't sure though. He knew Leo's history of running. He turned to look at Piper, and saw the same funny look on her face. He immediately knew that she was having the same thought. And almost nobody knew Leo better than Piper.

Abruptly hurrying down the stage towards the cabins, Piper called over her shoulder, "I'll just go look for him."

Jason hurried after her, awkwardly explaining, "I'll go with her. Always good to use the, you know, buddy system. Prevent accidents and all that good stuff. And…ummm…stuff like that. Alright, I'll be right back," he awkwardly finished, flashing a thumbs up sign. Breaking into a sprint, he followed Piper towards Leo's cabin. He found her sitting on Leo's bed, next to Festus who was creaking urgently, staring uncomprehendingly at the note in her hand.

"Hey babe, what's wrong?" Jason asked, moving her onto his lap, so he could sit with her. She still didn't answer and just slowly shook her head, like she still was trying to wrap her head around something big. "Babe?" Jason gently asked. When no answer was forthcoming, he gently unwrapped her hand from around the note to read for himself.

There was no denying that it was Leo's- he'd recognize that messy scrawl anywhere. It read:

I've decided to leave. Hopefully you will be better off now that I'm gone. Please take care of Festus.

-Leo

That was it. Three impersonal sentences. What bothered Jason most though was that it sounded like Leo thought that they'd be better without him. Jason thought about how often Leo had been able to cheer him up with a corny joke or two. He'd been there for all of them- not a single person in camp had ever been forgotten by Leo. Somehow, it seemed as if the night was blacker, and the air was even colder than it had been. The wind through the trees sounded creepier, and the moon shown with a new urgency.

"He just left." Jason was still dumbfounded.

"Hey," Percy jogged in, the rest of the gang behind him, "did you find him?" He took in Piper and Jason's shocked faces. "I'm assuming not." Jason just handed him the note. Percy read it out loud, then read it to himself once more like his dyslexia was acting up. "What? I don't understand why he would want to leave."

"The dreams." Everyone looked at Piper.

"What dreams?" Jason asked.

"THE dreams," Piper repeated, "the ones he…" she just trailed off before started afresh. "A week ago he seemed really troubled, so I asked him what was wrong. He seemed really reluctant to say, but I got it out of him that they were dreams that were bothering him. I think they were the same ones he had on the Argo 2 so long ago." Jason nodded his head, it made sense. Gaea had managed to get a tighter hold on him then she had the others. He didn't know why that was. His mom, as well as Hazel's, Nico's, and Frank's were gone too, and they weren't bothered as much. With a stab of guilt, Jason realized that he didn't even know what had happened to Leo's mom, much less what had happened during most of Leo's life. Unbidden, a picture of Leo's eyes came to Jason's mind and for the first time Jason was able to look past the jokes and laughter to the pain and suffering they held. How could he have missed it? His best friend had needed help, and Jason had blown him off countless times to do something else.

Piper was lamenting the fact that she had never tried to go deeper to figure out what was troubling Leo. She of all people could've gotten it from him. Just then Festus uddered the loudest creak yet, so she turned around to see what he wanted.

"What Festus?" she asked exasperatedly. "Uh-huh. I see. Oh my gosh."

"What?" The gods and Chiron had arrived, and now the cabin was crammed to bursting.

"Festus says that before Leo left, he had been muttering to himself. Festus thinks that Leo might be listening to a voice in his head," Piper finished explaining.

"This is bad," Chiron said. "We need to retrieve the boy as soon as possible. There's no telling who the voice could be."

It took Jason a minute to get at what Chiron meant. And when he finally did understand… Standing up, Jason announced, "We start tomorrow. 8 o'clock by Thalia's tree."


End file.
